Is there any hope?

I have a Macbook from 2009 (the one with the battery you can remove yourself). I lent it to my daughter for about 7 months and have recently got it back. Two days ago while charging the battery I suddenly got the message "Battery Is Not Charging". Although the green light is on showing the power cord is connected, it will not actually charge and the battery is stuck at 86%.

I questioned my daughter about her use of the Mac and she admitted that in 7 months of daily use she only ever actually switched it off ONCE. She said that she'd just leave it on all the time and that she "assumed" it would go into sleep mode after a few minutes of non-use (she didn't actually put it into sleep mode or close the lid etc). With this in mind I am wondering if the battery is dead?

That said the battery is showing as being in "Good condition." This is the battery info. Do you think buying a new battery might be the solution?:

Haha it's probably dead now. Go into an apple store if possible and act like all of a sudden the battery went crazy and you don't know why. You probably have few charge cycles, so maybe they will be nice and give you a new battery.

Sounds like the battery is perfectly fine. First try unplugging it and plugging it back in a couple times, and if that doesn't work, run it until it's completely dead, wait about 5 hours, then charge it back up. Leaving it on like that really shouldn't hurt it

I don't think leaving it on it the time will hurt it in any way. I only turned off my old 2002 iBook a few times, and the battery was at around 65% health after 6 years of near constant use. Likewise, I've only turned off my newer MacBook 2 or 3 times in the past 2+ years, and the battery health it 90%.

Can I take it into the Apple Store even though I've got no Applecare and its not under warranty? Or will they just tell me to eff off?

Click to expand...

You can, just be sure to make a genius bar appointment online for your nearest apple store before you go. Otherwise you may not have the chance to talk to anyone. I'd try some of these tips before taking the time to go to the apple store.

In the link that ECUpirate44 posted, under the section called CHARGING, you'll see instructions for troubleshooting your MagSafe adapter. I'd take a look at that and reset the SMC again (make sure you use the proper procedure, as there are different procedures for removable vs built-in batteries).

In the link that ECUpirate44 posted, under the section called CHARGING, you'll see instructions for troubleshooting your MagSafe adapter. I'd take a look at that and reset the SMC again (make sure you use the proper procedure, as there are different procedures for removable vs built-in batteries).

Not considering how the battery was treated.

Click to expand...

Good point! I would like to simply go ahead and buy a new battery. My only reason for hesitation is I am confused by the statistics. If my battery is actually dead or near-dead, why is it not showing as dead on Coconut Battery?

Good point! I would like to simply go ahead and buy a new battery. My only reason for hesitation is I am confused by the statistics. If my battery is actually dead or near-dead, why is it not showing as dead on Coconut Battery?

Click to expand...

If you can't properly calibrate your battery (which requires recharging), then you have no way of knowing if the readings shown by coconut battery are accurate. It wouldn't hurt to take it to the Apple store to see if they can test to see if it's defective. Even though it's out of warranty, they should be willing to test it without charge. Some have even had defective batteries replaced out of warranty, by a sympathetic Apple rep.

MacRumors attracts a broad audience
of both consumers and professionals interested in
the latest technologies and products. We also boast an active community focused on
purchasing decisions and technical aspects of the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Mac platforms.